Range Sheep 141 
These three operations are usually performed at the same 
time rather than at separate times as is the case on the 
small farms. The method of castrating and docking is 
the same as that used on the farms and a detailed dis- 
cussion Of these operations is given in the chapter devoted 
to farm sheep. 
SHEARING 
The time of shearing is usually shortly after lambing if 
weather conditions permit. On the ranges, nearly all 
of the shearing is performed sometime during the months 
of April, May, and June. 
The work is usually conducted by professional shearers 
who travel from one locality to another. Because of the 
large experience which these men have, they are able to 
shear 100 or 200 sheep in a day. Some of them shear in 
Australia, New Zealand, and Argentina as well as in the 
United States and in this way have work almost the year 
around. Within the past ten or fifteen years, machine 
shearing is largely taking the place of hand work. The 
machine shears are usually arranged in gangs of ten to forty 
machines all run by one engine. The chief advantages of 
machine shearing are: a neater job and less cutting of 
the skin. An expert can shear about as many by hand 
as by machine, but an amateur can work much faster 
with a machine. It was at first feared that the very 
close shearing performed by the machine might subject 
the sheep to damage when exposed to the burning sun or 
storms; but so far, few bad results from these sources 
have been noticed. In many states a large amount of 
shearing is still done by hand, but the use of the machine 
is growing. The process of shearing large flocks occupies 
considerable time under the most favorable conditions, 
